Thereafter
by Purple2black
Summary: Having the Potter name does not guarantee a life of luxury even if it does have few perks. Infact, the next gen. Potters are painstakingly normal as they go thru their prime teen yrs in Hogwarts and juggle their Family  big 1 , friendships and romances.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: 'Ello there! I am back and back with the much promised next generation! As i've said here and there I hate to make up characters since Rowling has given us soo much ground, I can literally play with any character and bring them into my stories. So much thanks Rowling really! I'm not use what pairing to use in this so I'll generalize and just use Harry/Ginny because it is afterall centered mostly around their kids...Anyhow ppl PLEASE let me know how this 1st chap was! Therefore review review review...if you clue in on some of the prev. generation relationships also let me know. I need to know if I'm being obvious enough or not =D Aite I'm done yakking and readers I present to you..._**

**_Thereafter_**

"MR. POTTER! You are late! _Again. _Explain yourself."

James S. Potter sauntered further lazily into the classroom, stood by his empty seat and shrugged at Professor Flitwick standing atop a pile of books.

"I got lost." The class snickered.

"I find that very hard to believe Mr. Potter due to the fact that it is your year seven and you have had my class since year one."

The snickers grew. James smiled with them as if they were laughing with him and not at him. He shrugged languidly again.

"Hogwarts is big."

Professor Flitwick shook his head and frowned at the reasoning. "Well the least you could do is fix your tie and settle down."

He turned on his heel and continued to wave his wand to write things on the board.

"My partner will do that for me, won't she?" James responded lightly and turned towards his seat. The girl with the long chestnut hair finally looked up from the book she had been bending over, her hair falling around her face, as if trying to hide behind the locks. She glared at James.

"C'mon head girl" James beckoned her with a tilt of his head, "you're used to this now."

"Merlin, get over it!" she whispered hotly as she got out of her seat and gave a furtive glance around the room, but they couldn't be more disinterested in watching a scene that took place regularly. "Too bad you didn't get appointed Head Boy."

"Aah sweet Olive, you mistake sarcasm for jealousy."

She stepped up to him, a few inches below him to do his tie. "Oh you know I thought maybe 'cause Julian has the adjoining room –"

"Don't tempt me, Olive" he all but growled.

"So" she said changing the subject, "still milking the Hogwarts is big excuse eh", she secured the tie, one final time.

James smirked as the both settled down into their paired seats. "They never ask to elaborate."

Olivia Ravendale smiled knowingly and performed the spell described on the board.

"What?" James asked as he observed her expression, "I can almost hear your thoughts on this one."

"Which is?" she challenged him.

"They don't ask to elaborate because I am a Potter", he rolled his eyes.

"Your words, not mine."

"Being a Potter does come with _some _perks."

Olivia snorted but said nothing on the subject.

"By the way, since you are late, it's my duty to let you know that we have another team assignment coming up."

"Yes!" he cheered loudly and a few students around them looked at him. "Sorry" he apologized in a lighter tone, "assignment means more time with you" he explained casually.

Olivia rolled her eyes and shook her head wordlessly, but couldn't help a slight curve of her lips.

* * *

><p>"Hey Al! AL!"<p>

A tall boy with pale hair and skin of the same colour made a skidding stop as he grabbed the sleeve of the boy with the raven messy hair and emerald eyes, in order to stop him.

Panting, the pale boy said, "Blimey Albus, do you walk fast or what?"

Albus Severus Potter smiled guiltily, "I could've sworn you were right behind me."

"Yeah, a million miles behind you", Scorpius Malfoy countered as he stopped at a water fountain and leaned in to take a few gulps.

"Err...right. Sorry, it's a bad habit" Albus scratched the back of his neck as the two began walking again.

"What? You walking rapidly? I'll say!" Scorpius teased.

Before the two could continue arguing a new voice behind them said, "Oi Slytherins! Where you guys headed?"

Albus felt Scorpius stiffen beside him at the female voice. Albus turned to face his cousin Rose Weasley, her red hair wild around her head, clutching a bunch of thick books.

"Hullo Rose, we are headed to the library", Albus replied with a quick glance at Scorpius who seemed to have eaten his tongue, "how about you?"

"Where else would I rather be?" she grinned cheekily as she shifted her books to one hand only and linked the other with her cousin's. Albus always thought she was the perfect combination of Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione. Not only was she a bookworm but she also had the wit and humour to with it.

"You coming?" she asked Scorpius airily, as she tugged Albus towards the library. Albus turned to look at his best mate who seemed rooted to the spot.

"Y-Yes! Ofcouse" Scorpius stammered as he hoisted his bag up his shoulder again and began to follow them. Albus rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>"Alright, don't look now Lils but lover-boy is looking again!"<p>

"Oh yeah?" Lilly Luna Potter feigned unawareness as she tried to continue doing her homework. Suddenly realising she clicked her tongue, "And stop calling him that, it's not his fault that his last name is Lovegood."

Her two friends smirked at her.

"Why Lily" said Florence Finnigan slyly, "you've never stood up for him before."

"Yeah" Lily shrugged, "whatever." She pretended to be indulged in her schoolwork again but in truth her mind was miles away. Yes, why had she stood up for him? Lysander Lovegood had been giving her attention, albeit from afar always, since her first year. She had been quite indifferent to it then and in her second year almost annoyed although that would probably had been because her friends wouldn't shut up about it. But this year she had almost looked forward to it. And he hadn't disappointed. She would always be aware of his eyes on her as soon as she entered the Great Hall every time. Lily schooled her face to keep from blushing and tried to finish writing the incomplete sentence on the parchment.

"I just want to know why his last name is Lovegood" commented Beatrice Longbottom, Lily's other best friend; the ever curious, "I mean ok so Mrs. Lovegood didn't change her last name after her marriage, I understand a lot of women don't but to actually have their child take the mother's last name...it's just strange."

This topic had come up between the friends a couple times previously. And to no resoultion as previously.

"Then again Luna Lovegood is strange" Lily responded gently and without realizing it her eyes trailed to the Ravenclaw table. Her eyes caught the familiar silvery gray eyes that she'd been avoiding all morning. And try as much as she did, couldn't look away from his arresting gaze now. He had his head resting atop his joined hands as he continued to observe her, unabashed that he'd been caught staring. And it wasn't like he was a complete loner either, she noticed. She had seen him with the Corner boy a few times, although he did seem like he preferred to be by himself more than anything. She felt her face warm up at having noticed these things about him already and lowered her gaze. Florence was saying something and she willed herself to listen.

"Aren't you guys close family friends with the Lovegoods...and Scamanders?"

Both Beatrice and Lily nodded. "But it's usually just Mrs. Lovegood who is around, her family hardly ever comes with" Beatrice elaborated. Lily felt a bit relieved and less stalker-like for not being the only one who noticed that.

"Wow...that is weird" commented Florence with an amused look on her face and Lily felt a stab of annoyance but didn't comment.

Before any of them could say anything else, they heard a loud, "Cousin Lily, there you are!" an exuberant Hugo Weasley reached them and seated himself directly between Beatrice and Florence and leaned over the table towards Lily who sat across them. Lily noticed her friends' face lighten up just like hers did at the welcome distraction.

"Stop calling me that" Lily said trying to say it good-naturedly.

"Ahh can't Cousin Lily, you see there are so many cousins of mine loitering around here, I find it necessary to add the name so the person understands that it is specifically them I am referring to" he explained casually.

"No, I meant the _cousin _part of it, head case".

"Oh" Hugo pretended to think it over, "still can't" he concluded without further explanation. Florence giggled at that and Hugo glanced at her appreciatively. Then with a click of his tongue he turned his attention back to his cousin, "Ahh I am mixing business with pleasure again. The reason I came over was because I need your Potions essay."

Lilly rolled her eyes but reached for it anyway in her book bag and handed it to him with the usual warning of not to copy it word for word.

"Yeah, that would be educational suicide and Mum would go nuts. I would only be putting myself in trouble" Hugo replied with a wince.

"That's right" said a frowning Beatrice but Hugo paid no mind to her words.

"Thank you Cousin Lily! This is exactly why you are my favourite cousin!" which infused another roll of the eyes from Lily. "Alright lovely ladies, see you around!" he spoke to the three but his eyes stayed on Florence a second longer then they should have been and Florence grinned abashedly back at him until he was gone.

Beatrice looked at Florence disdainfully, "K that's just...not right."

Lily had seen this coming.

"What now, Bea?" Florence sighed loudly.

"You do remember that your Mum and his Dad used to be an item right?"

"And your point being...?"

"It's just awkward."

"Bea, let it be", Lily warned.

"Yes Bea, listen to her. Anyway it's too early in the morning for your wise arse, honestly", with that she was out of her seat. "I have to speak to Professor Trelawney. See you guys there." She gave them a tight smile and left.

"That girl needs to set some boundaries" Beatrice said as she shook her head, "and you need to stop just handing your assignment to Hugo without thinking twice."

"It's just Potions. He's completely hopeless at it" Lily said as gathered her flaming red hair into a ponytail, "Besides he's another brother, you don't think twice to help family."

"Well said! And speaking of brother may I borrow your Map for a minute? I just need to check and see if Tobias isn't lost. Alice is too forgetful to even remember that we have a brother who just started at Hogwarts."

Lily chuckled, "Ofcourse" and retrieved the neatly folded map from her school robes pocket. She tapped it once with her wand and recited the familiar words, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Hullo grasshoppers, sorry its been a long wait for this next chapter. I hadnt had this chapter written and was just waiting for inspiration to strike one fine day. I feel very much like Rowling herself at the moment. No i didnt say I am rowling. god forbid no! I wish I was like her but sadly I aint! No i feel kinda like her cause i have my ending in my head and my characters, just gotta rewind from the ending to the start.**_

_**Thanks for whatever reviews and faves I got. It wasnt much but I'll take what I can get. Broken wings thank you for pointing out certain things. I wanted to reply but I can't do that without revealing things that I have planned in my head. So you will have to wait. But i will say this that Lily's age and year can be most certainly figured out by Albus' age and year and not James'. Cause if you go back to the epilogue of DH we know that its Albus' first year and Harry consoles Lily sayin that shes got two more years to go. However it wasnt revealed what year James was in. I dunno why ppl want so badly for him to be only a year old than Albus! I wanted him to be two years older than Albus. But even then my stories havent remained all that true to the series I'm sorry to say. I have changed a few minor things here and there in my previous stories. Anyhow I'm done ranting as always. Here ya go! Review ppl!**_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 2<span>**

Albus struggled with his Potions essay as he always did. He wished he had Professor Slughorn for Potions like his father had. No matter how eccentric the man was, he favoured the Potters and it would be nice to have some partiality in Potions class.

But _no, _he was stuck with Professor Bulstrode and if he was anything like his father he was bound to despise Potions. From what he heard and understood from the tales from his parents, being in Slytherin gave one an automatic do-well in Potions class ticket. Blimey, how wrong he was to have thought that. He frowned heavily and took a look at all the reference books open around him and sank deeper in his chair. Any further and he'd be sliding down it. He leaned forward to take a look at the dusty book furthest from him and the movement caused him to glance at Scorpius sitting across him.

Scorpius was _supposed _to be rapidly going through and finishing his Potions essay. The lucky child had it so easy in Potions. Albus scoffed in his head. It was funny how both of them were just like their fathers. Coming back to the present situation at hand, Scorpius was _supposed _to be completing his essay but he wasn't. He had the end of his quill between his teeth as he chewed on it absent-mindedly, his eyes fixated on something behind Albus' back. Albus leaned in slowly to take a look at his friend's parchment and his mouth almost dropped open. The blond had barely written two words. Albus just knew he was going to regret turning around to see what had his best friend's attention. And boy, regret it, he did.

Rose was sitting at the table at the other end of the library. If Albus thought his area was covered with books, one should've seen Rose's. She was a frazzled mess. What part of this picture Scorpius found intriguing, Albus didn't understand. But still, Albus had begun to notice Scorpius' attention for Rose since their third year when Slytherins were paired with Gryffindors in Divination.

Scorpius had been assigned to Rose and Albus very vividly remembered his blond friend complaining before class about being paired with her and after their first class as a team didn't hear a peep of disdain towards his cousin. And then in a few days it seemed as if Scorpius was eager to get to Divination. Albus hadn't the guts to bring it up with him yet. It felt odd. Rose was closer to him than his own sister.

Was this how Uncle Ron felt with his father regarding his Mum? He turned back in his chair and discreetly observed an oblivious Scorpius. He bit his lip and tried to organize his feelings in his head. Albus and Scorpius had never really talked about this kind of thing. Well here and there sure about random people but never heartfelt.

What was it that Scorpius found particularly appealing about Rose? Scorpius and Rose came from two different worlds. Was it just physical? Albus almost visibly blanched at this thought. He forced his mind to not go down that lane. He looked down at his half filled parchment in an effort to get distracted. He couldn't go back to writing that crap now. He looked at Scorpius and had an idea.

"Hey Scor?"

Scorpius blinked, "Yeah?"

"If you finish my Potions essay after yours, I could...you know..." he left the sentence trailing and only jerked his head towards the table behind them.

Scorpius just stared at him for a couple of excruciating seconds before letting a small tilt appear on his lips.

"I'll do it anyway."

* * *

><p>Olivia turned around the corner and followed the corridor to the end where the boys' locker room was. As expected, James was right outside the door and as usual, chatting up a fourth year, his broom in one hand and his Quidditch bag thrown over his shoulder. As soon as he saw Olivia he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on.<p>

"Good you're here. Let's go", he started walking without a backward glance. The lass he was talking to opened her mouth, closed it and then opened it again as she watched James walk off. Olivia looked at the both helplessly for a moment before following James.

"Not going to say goodbye?" she asked as she tried to keep up with his athletic gait.

"To whom?"

"Never mind" Olivia smirked. Even after so long of their friendship (or whatever their relationship was) it still baffled her. Girls still fell for him even after the fact that he was clearly _not _famous for caring too much about each. He would randomly date girls but they never lasted long. Some not even more than a few hours and others were just a flirt-fest for him. And girls still liked to take the risk and go out with him in serious hopes that they would be the one.

As they neared the Head Students' Common Room, Olivia glanced at James furtively, "Uhh James..."

"Yeah, Yeah. I got it" he replied irritantly and turned and stomped off a little farther away from the door. Only when Olivia was certain he was at a safe distance away did she lowly mutter the password.

"Merlin, you're such a goody two shoes" James huffed as he pushed past her, past the common room, right into her room. He flopped on her bed as if he belonged there.

"Umm we are going to work in my room?" she asked from the doorway.

"Well yeah" James rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing, "this assignment is important. We don't want distractions. We gotta put our heart and mind into it."

Olivia shrugged and began to unearth books from her bag.

"And our bodies if we have to", James added.

"Do shutup!" Olivia quickly retorted, "Ok you chose the room, I get to choose the spot and we'll be working on the floor. We need lots of area anyway."

James sighed dramatically and dragged himself of her bed, "Fine, but I'm warning you, it's going to be rough on the back-"

"I thought I told you to shutup!"

* * *

><p>"Aaaah someone end this torture" Lily wailed.<p>

"I wish I could. I don't know how" Beatrice Longbottom replied dryly as she continued peering into the teacup.

"If one of us had paired up with Flo this would have made more sense."

Beatrice nodded as the two looked towards their friend. Florence Finnigan's face was quite animated as she rattled off things that she apparently saw in her teacup. Her partner, Hugo seemed to be hanging on to every word.

"Yeah, as if she would pair up with anyone else with him here" Beatrice pursed her lips.

"And vice versa" Lily chuckled.

"I wonder if she actually sees stuff or is just very good at making stuff up" Beatrice continued a little more seriously.

"Do you want to try again?" Lily cleared her throat and asked.

"This? It's not going to work the sixth time, Lily."

"Just humour me, will ya?"

"Alright then" Beatrice straightened up and cleared her throat dramatically, "I see a lot of red..."

"Yeah no surprise there" Lily pulled on a strand of her long red hair and looked down at it.

"But wait" Beatrice continued, "what's this I see? Amidst all the red I see a blond head. Hmm."

Lily's heart sped up. She couldn't tell if Beatrice was playing with her now or not. The other girl's eyes were glued to the little cup.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"It's not a what, it's a who I'm talking about."

"Yeah, my family is really warming up to the Malfoys" Lily quickly said.

This finally made Beatrice tear her eyes away from the cup and now Lily wasn't so happy about it. Beatrice smirked slightly, "Nice try."

"Yeah I know" Lily said wryly, "who am I kidding? Daddy's never going to warm up to the Malfoys. Just Scorpius I guess."

Beatrice set the teacup down, "No, I meant nice try for using the Malfoys as a cover up."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Wow Lily, are you sure you didn't ask the Sorting Hat to change your house from Slytherin to Gryffindor? Because you really have a penchant for making conversations go in circles."

Lily flushed and looked down.

"Ok I'm sorry I didn't want to put you on the spot. And for the record I didn't see that in the teacup. I don't need a teacup for what my eyes alone can do. I see that your behaviour around the whole Lysander thing is changing."

"How do you figure?" Lily asked even though she knew the answer.

"Lily even if neither of us hadn't wanted to, we've been forced to become friends, you know having been forced to play with each other, the play date shite that my mother was obsessed with, I know you for so long now. I understand a behavioural change in my best mate when I see one."

"I just...I'm not sure if...I just want to know why he stares like that?" she cried defiantly.

"Well that part is obvious, genius. It's up to you what you want to do about it."

"I'm not sure if _do_ is something I want to do, already" Lily replied wryly, "I barely know him."

"Yeah, isn't that strange? Our fathers are so close to his mother, yet there is nothing we can say about him. Maybe he's attracted to you because you're middle named after his mother" Beatrice's eyes lit up with humour at this.

"Eww, Bea." Lily couldn't from laughing though.

"You know, I could ask Alice about him. They're not in the same house but I'm pretty sure they share classes."

"That could be a start" Lily commented warily.

" K hand over the map then so we could find her and ask."

"_No!" _Lily cried out aggressively, "I mean do it in your own time. I don't want it to be obvious that I want to know."

"Oh Lord" Bea rolled her eyes, "alright, bashful!"


End file.
